Echinocardium cordatum

Small heart urchin

Echinocardium cordatum is a sea urchin that may reach 9 cm in length.
The thin test is globular, slightly oval and its upper face is flattened. It is densely covered by
yellowish short thin spines. As it lives buried in sand or mud, this type of spines creates a
ventilated space between sand and its tegument
preventing asphyxiation. It can bury 10 cm deep in sand where it feeds on various micro-organisms.
It is found from 5 m to 200 m deep, in the Atlantic Ocean from Norway to South-Africa, in the English channel,
the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

How to cite this page in publications

Bay-Nouailhat A., December 2005, Description of Echinocardium cordatum, Available on line at http://www.european-marine-life.org/30/echinocardium-cordatum.php, consulted on 19 November 2018.Also consult : Terms of use and copyrights